Cornwall Council denies chopping down much-loved trees will be ‘unlawful’
The trees on Trelawney Road in Falmouth are due to be chopped down in December a year after it was first announced they would be felled
Last updated 26th Nov 2025
A year on from when they were first earmarked to be felled, the three now-famous trees on Trelawney Road in Falmouth are due to be chopped down in December.
However, campaigners are still battling to save them with a supporting barrister now stating that Cornwall Council’s actions are ‘unlawful’.
The matter was also raised at a council meeting yesterday (Tuesday, November 25) when the cabinet member for transport and highways stressed that the local authority has operated within the law.
However, Cllr Dan Rogerson did acknowledge that the council had departed from government guidance.
Residents have protested at the site of the healthy lime trees three times since last December, saving them from being felled during two very public demonstrations this year.
They say no proper explanation has been given by the council for why they have to come down, amid mysterious court proceedings, a settlement of over £100,000 and a confidentiality agreement between the local authority and the owner of a neighbouring house.
The council has announced that the trees will be felled next month following an ecological report to ensure there are no nesting birds or roosting bats.
Leading barrister and founder of Lawyers for Nature, Paul Powlesland – who previously attended one of the protests organised by Stop the Chop! campaigners – has now said the council’s plan to fell the 60-year-old trees is unlawful.
Mr Powlesland was instructed by the campaign group to assess whether the statutory Duty to Consult had been complied with before the trees were condemned. He says it has not.
“Cornwall Council have failed to properly consult in relation to the Trelawney Road trees,” he said. “Given their duty to carry out a proper consultation, it is clear that it would be unlawful for them to fell these trees as things stand. The message to Cornwall Council is clear: call off the fellings, comply with the law by carrying out a proper consultation and listen to local campaigners to find simple ways to save these magnificent trees.”
The Duty to Consult was added to the Highways Act following public outrage in places like Sheffield and Plymouth where councils felled street trees without community knowledge or consent.
A Stop the Chop! spokesperson said: “We have spent nearly a year warning Cornwall Council that without a lawful public consultation they have no legal authority to fell these trees. This isn’t a small technical fault – it’s a blatant disregard for the law and the public. Most local residents had no idea the trees were under threat until chainsaws arrived last December.”
The matter was also raised by Falmouth Labour councillor Laurie Magowan at County Hall / Lys Kernow in Truro this week.
He said: “The Highways Act places specific requirements on local authorities when consulting members of the public before felling any trees on urban roads. This includes notices being placed on identified trees, 28-day consultation and publishing consultation responses.
“It also requires records of consultation processes to be retained in case a challenge is received. With this in mind, can you confirm Cornwall Council has adhered to the legislative requirements in relation to the proposed felling of trees on Trelawney Road in Falmouth and make public the evidence of the duty to consult was delivered in full?”
Portfolio holder for transport Cllr Rogerson replied: “We’ve talked about this at great length and with members of the community also. We’re in the process as an authority of giving a full written reply with the issues he has raised.
“On the specific point on consultation, Section 96a of the Highways Act 1980 requires the council to ‘have regard to guidance issued by the Secretary of State’ and the officer view is that the local highway authority needs to look how it’s taken account of that guidance and if it departs from that it needs to do so with good reason.
“There is an acknowledgement that we did depart from that guidance here, which is important to say is not departing from the legislation or legal position. We did so for clear and lawful reasons and that’s been explained to campaigners in meetings that we’ve had.
“Although we do not accept that the previous consultation was legally non-compliant, we have agreed to revisit that future consultation process for highways trees in light of the conversations that we’ve had. I think it’s important to raise that distinction between what’s guidance and what is operating within the law, and we obviously expect the authority to be operating within the law at all times.”